A Terran born outside Korea wins a ‘StarCraft’ major for the first time since 2012

For the first time this year, a Terran player born outside Korea has won a major StarCraft 2 tournament. That temporal qualifier can extend years longer, depending on your definition of a “major” tournament. But whatever your definition, Danish Terran Patrick “Bunny” Brix earned a little piece of history today.

Team Liquid’s Brix took the Gfinity 3 title by beating Korean Zerg player Ko “HyuN” Seok Hyun in the final by a 4-2 score.

It was an exciting match. Ko took the first map, King Sejong Station, leading to the typical pessimism surrounding a major Korean against non- matchup. Here we go again, the crowd seemed to sigh. The Korean will win easily.

But Brix was resilient and fought back to take a 2-1 series lead. Despite Ko tying it up, the Terran never looked like he lost control, winning the final two maps in commanding fashion. The win was all the more impressive considering the current balance environment, with Terrans struggling against the other two races.

The victory was historic for a variety of reasons.

As outlined by Team Liquid staffer “tree-hugger” on Reddit, Brix is now the first non-Korean player to win a World Championship Series point tournament. Ever. He’s the first non-Korean Terran to win a major offline tournament since Libo “Xenocider” Chang took the International e-Culture Festival 2013. He’s the first non-Korean Terran to win a tournament with significant Koreans in attendance since Marcus “ThorZaIN” Eklöf won the 2012 Dreamhack Open in Stockholm.

The $16,000 Brix pulled in is the highest prize ever won by a Terran born outside of Korea. It was special win, and well deserved. Brix advanced from his group with the top seed by sweeping hometown favorite Benjamin “DeMusliM” Baker, darling of the British crowd at Gfinity, and Korean Protoss Son “StarDust” Seok Hee, the winner of the second season of WCS Europe last month.

His bracket run was no easier. He survived a close 2-1 series against Dario “TLO” Wunsch in the quarterfinals, and then had to beat Team Liquid teammate Jens “Snute” Aasgaard, the Zerg who single-handedly won the Nation Wars tournament last week. Aasgaard is largely considered the top player outside Korea in recent months, but he may now need to hand his crown over to Brix.

Brix beat his teammate by abusing two barracks rushses, using an aggressive tactic to prevent the Zerg from getting into his late game wheelhouse. Some fans don’t like the so-called “cheese” strategy, but if it wins you a tournament, how can one complain? Brix sure won’t, as he cashes his well deserved check for $16,000.